Category Archives: Projects

At the moment, we are in a landlocked state. That means, no ocean touching our state on any side. Sadly, not even within driving distance. One day we will be near ocean again. It’s not a dream, it’s a reality! Until then, I wanted to store our boards in a way to still remind us that we surf, we love the ocean, we still are in the game!

There are many ways to store/showcase surfboards. Here’s what I did…

I got these cute dragonfly hooks. I used a stud finder to secure the screws into studs. The dragonfly hooks slips easily onto the screw. I bought these at Target.

I then used ribbon to hang the surfboard on and then slip the ribbon onto the hooks. Simple!

Here, I wanted this type of look. The wood adds a nice element and really ties the wood tones in this room. You can see the shelving unit I built here… You can see I kept the wood natural in the shelving. I knotted this rope because “Spencer The Cat” loves to play with the hanging piece! Picture of him can be found on my instagram! Though I do have a few felines, he’s one of the orange ones. Future post on all the abandoned critters that have found safe refuge with us coming… 🙂

I want to share with you how I plant many of my seeds. The video below says it all, or you can scroll down through the pictures…

I’m pretty sure you can guess what this “special” container is…

This lovely container is…yes, you guessed it, the end of a toilet paper roll. It makes for an amazing plant container. Let me show you what I do!

What I like about using this as a container for seeds is, it’s re-usable, compostable, and practically free!

Start by crimping one end of the tube. You want to create a “bottom”. Keep on crimping until the tube is closed…

Like this! Once you get your container bottoms all made, you will need to put them in something to hold them all upright. I’ve used a plastic salad container, egg cartons, shoe boxes…Use your imagination! Most anything that will keep them upright will do.

To fill the container, I use a make-shift funnel made out of thick paper. The T.P. rolls are in a paper (cardboard) “gomacrobar” box. If you haven’t tried a gomacrobar…do it! So delicious! Oh and see that adorable cup? It’s designed by Molly Hatch. Aren’t the polka dots just the cutest?

Fill em up!

Don’t forget to label. Again why I like using the cardboard containers, you can simply scribble right on the tubes!

If you are planting in ceramic or other types of containers, you can make labels like the ones you see here. I just wrote on paper and taped them to a toothpick.

These labels are made from plastic knives and I used a sharpie.

I couldn’t resist showing off one of my favorite bowls. My sister in-law made it! Isn’t it a beauty?

Like the cups says, “something good”…whether it’d be for yourself, (a nap, hot bath, a yummy drink) or for someone else, (catching up with an old friend, taking your mom out to lunch, donating towels and blankets to your local animal shelter)…whatever it is, make it something good!

Love and Peace, Koko

Tip: The theweeklyday asked a question and I wanted to share with you my answer. He was wondering how long they last indoors before the t.p. rolls fall apart. It really depends on the rolls and how you water them. They all are not created equal. However, if I have a “sad” roll (falling apart), I will take another roll and slice along the side and just “wrap” the “sad” roll. This method works really well to hold them together! Save the ends of paper towel rolls. Those are great for doing this with as you can cut them to size. But, you can do that with t.p. rolls too! Great question “theweeklyday”.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed building the gates. I share what I do/build to show that you too can do it! The garden gate was a plan in my head and thankfully it came out just as I pictured. This really was an easy build. I am NOT a skilled woodworker, so when I say you can do this… I really believe that! You can see past posts on gates I’ve done here and here.

*You may have to adjust your volume. I apologize ahead of time if it’s loud.* The music is by my daughter. She wrote the lyrics and music and sings. The song has special meaning to her. I hope you enjoy it.

Peace be with you today and everyday! Like the song’s title “Stand”, I hope you take a stand to be happy, healthy, to love big, show kindness, be the one to reach out to someone, to care, and most of all to love yourself. Koko❀

Here is the old dresser. I had taken out the bottom two drawers years ago and added shelves. I painted it black as it went with a few of my other curbside finds when I was about ten years old! Yeah, that was some time back!

I used to sit on a bar stool because I was so little and I didn’t have the experience of using a saw or power tools and no one to help me. I improvised; which was something I did a lot as a child. I wish I had pictures of the awesome playhouse I built out of old pallets. Fun times with imagination!

Okay flash forward to the future. This “desk” was a side board for a bit, a table to house some books and knick knacks, and the latest; was used as a stand for an adorable fish tank.

I wanted to create a space of my own where I could draw and didn’t have to “clean-up/put away” every time. I found a new place for my fish tank and decided to re-purpose the already re-purposed piece!

I pencil marked where I needed to make the cut. Got out my Ryobi jig saw and lopped off 3 inches so the desk would be more comfortable to sit at using a chair rather than a bar stool.

I sanded the whole thing using 80 grit sandpaper and finishing off with 100 grit. After sanding, I gave the desk a good wipe down and double checked the height of the desk.

I didn’t sand it all down to bare wood. I left some black to give the piece dimension.

Let the fun begin…I simply took white craft paint and watered it down. Armed with a paintbrush in one hand and a sock covering the other hand, I set out to white wash the piece. Going along with the grain of the wood I painted long strokes and then wiped off the excess. Some areas I wanted it to be brighter so I just added more paint. Remembering to always go with the grain of the wood. Adding and rubbing away with the socked hand until I reached the coloring and effect I was going for.

I decided not to seal the desk with wax or a poly. To me this wasn’t necessary. Not out of laziness, just not needed. However if you decided to do a project like this and choose to seal…by all means, do so! I figured I am not needing to “protect” it and perhaps in the future if I wanted to wash it over with another color I could easily do so.

So basically what this is about is using something you already have in your home. I am making a point to NOT buy things I don’t really “need”. I really want less things in my life. And taking a table that was essentially sitting around not only made me be creative moving things around my home, it gave me a new piece of furniture that I can really put to use. Since remaking this desk, I use it almost daily! Now that’s what I call smart! And not having to spend money to do so was even smarter!

Making a space for just you is important. It can be a corner of any room. A comfy chair to knit or read or a desk to create. A place where you can be you and do a project or craft or read or simply look out a window. A spot where you can breathe again. I need to breathe again and this little area helps me to do just that. I can breathe and sort through my thoughts in my tiny creative space.

I hope you make a space of your own. It’s important. YOU are important. Remember that!

You, my followers, are in my thoughts. Take care and may peace follow you.

I’ve been enjoying reading up on the great blogs you all have. This weekend had me in a frenzy getting the house ready for a party. Fun, fun, fun.

I built the third gate. This gate should have been the first one. It’s the most important one; well to me it is. It leads to my garden. I open my back door and about 30 steps away is my sanctuary.

I am getting better at building these things. Faster too. With each one there have been tiny hic-ups because each is a different size and I needed to account for the weight because of the wider widths as well as land sloping up or down. All in all, it’s been fun building them. One more to go! I am hoping to have that built by next week and then…Chicken coop! Can you say, “bwok, bwok?” I can’t wait! 😉

Third gate. Zucchini plant to the left; I can already smell the zucchini bread!

The party went off without a hitch. Great fun and lots of live music. I finally went to sleep; 4 am came fast!

Smelling the roses.

I so love all the pictures you all have on your blogs. All of you out there that can grow roses…I take my hat off to you! As you can see this plant has the dreaded black spots. All my neighbors tell me you can’t grow roses around here. I am starting to agree. When I lived on the west coast my roses grew prolifically. I miss them very much. My father-in law grew them and I was happy to have the chance to take over the job of caring for them. It’s one of the things I miss very much when I moved down south. Here in my garden, I am happy I got one to smell! I know this plant won’t last, but for it’s short life, I am thankful. Hope you all had a great weekend! Make the time to smell the roses. Life is short!

Here’s my second gate. This one took me less time to build than the last one. Progress! (about three hours counting painting) This gate is wider than the first one, by over a foot, so I had to build into it a little more support. I also added an extra hinge in the center. I don’t know if it was necessary, however five years from now I don’t want the gate wobbling or sagging. (Though five years from now it would be nice to be living near the beach again…oh how I miss the ocean.)

Measured out the width of gate and where I wanted the bottom and top slat to be.

Laid boards out and measured out the distance apart I wanted.

Screwed all boards and drew a curved line at top of gate. I cut it out with a jig saw.

Added cross pieces for more stability.

Finished and painted. That’s my garden behind that gate! One of my favorite crepe myrtle trees on the left. Love the blossoms!

Do you enjoy building things? I’d love to hear about a project you’ve done! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read. I hope this finds you happy and healthy and that you are doing something that makes you smile. Peace, Koko❀

I was going to build another gate, however it rained. So, I made this instead…

I can’t be a person that “schedules” anything. My days are usually predicated upon the weather or kids or animals or… Though whatever I do in my day I really try to make it count. If I plan on doing something and for some reason I can’t do it, there is always another plan that is ready to step right in its place. Perhaps tomorrow I will build another gate. Hope you all make moments count. Peace, Koko